Wuzzam, the Old Goat, and Hill-Billiage joined me for a Tour de Burlington along branches of the Tunxis Trail.  It ends up being a modified Tunxis Ultra Loop, with the two "out-and-backs" removed.  The wayz we do it, flowz better in a great big circle.

It was hard to figure what the distance would be, especially with removing a couple parts, but I got 17.5-miles on my gps.  We finished total time of 4:58 or so.

Great weather (dry, somewhat sunny, and 43-degrees).  Leaves were not too bad for the most part due to the heavy Mtn Bike usage on many of these trails.  The "High-Lights" were as follows:

• The Wall
• Hemenway Lookout
• Mile of Ledges
• Bear's Den
• The Tory Cave
• State Trout Hatchery
• Devils Kitchen

Definitely a run I would like to do again.  Two water drops worked out just fine.

I have a series of photographs of some of the scrambling we did, mostly of Wuzzam, which I will post going forward over time.

Beginnings

 5.2-miles on the Kent/Mather Loop before a dental cleaning.

 3.9-miles in Cowles Park after work, just finished before dark set in.

From the Archives...

Mt Washington State Forest Marathon - October 2003

 Riga Plateau, South Taconic & Appalachian Trails, MA, NY & CT

Sometime in October of 2002 - 2003, Tippi completed her first "Marathon" along the Mt Riga Plateau; it would also be my 26th.  We had the "Bandit" along for the adventure. 

Our time was recorded as 5:38:00 over 24.7-miles.  I recall the end of the run taking forever once we descended Frissell and headed back to Mt. Washington State Forest Headquarters, as we might have diverted from the most direct track.

Maybe on top of Alander?

Intersection prior to Brace.

   
I believe this is the top of Brace Mountain.

The Bandit climbing Round Mountain.

The Bandit at the peak of Round Mountain.

The Bandit climbing Mt Frissell.

The Bandit climbing Frissell.

At the Tri-State Marker (NY, MA, CT).

Black Lizard / Vintage Crime #39 for 2020...

"Find a Victim", another in the Lew Archer series, from Ross MacDonald first published in 1954.

Vintage Crime / Black Lizard Cover Image

Early Edition

Alternate Early Edition

Music 2020...

Effort #43,  "Acoustic Intro"...  the lead cut from a September 12th, 2020 basement recording session that has been named the "Ground Down" extended play session.

Pop's 81st Birthday Party!

Wuzzam joined me for a fun-run of the Goodwin 30km Trail Race, normally held in June, of which we have participated 2 or 3 times each.

The day was great, began in  the high thirties for temperature, with sunny, blue sky.  A pair of hikers had to recall Wuzzam back to his vehicle to lock it up, as he was leaving one, or possible two of  this driver side doors wide open.  This was after "locking" it and reminding me to verify that my vehicle was "locked".

We had some difficulty with all the trails in the beginning few miles;  we had to stop and think a few times, back-track at least once I can remember, and basically seeming confused as it was like being in a place for the first time.  I honestly couldn't tell if the trails just all looked about the same, or if they didn't seem like anything I had been on before.  That kind of day for both of us.

We finally got out toward Black Spruce Pond and recognized where we were, and things went well navigationally from there.  Until the left turn off the Natchaug Trail in the last few miles...  I thought it looked correct, but Wuzzam thought it was further along the Natchaug.  We stuck to the Natchaug and of course that was wrong.

The run finished up at 19.2-miles on my gps, and the trails appeared difficult to us.  This is a strange forest, as we alternate from run-to-run thinking the trails are either awesome (the last two times we've run here), or really not awesome (today, or the time Wuzzam wished to skip all the opening section of trails around Pine Acres Lake due to them being "dip-shit trails (his phrase)).

We held up well, I managed the entire run with just two liters of fuel.  We were out on our feet for close to 4:48:00, and it seemed it.

Wuzzam around Goodwin Brook

General Nathaniel Lyon's Memorial Park

Beaverdam Marsh

Black Spruce Pond

Wuzzam at Black Spruce Pond

Comparison of Official Race Course and Today's Modified Version

From the Archives...

Bay State Marathon
October 18, 1992 - Lowell, Massachusetts

Today I completed my first marathon, at the Baystate Marathon, in Lowell, Massachusetts.  I ran 3:35:00 for the 26.2-miles (two loops).  My folks drove out to see me finish, which was really cool.

Mid-Morning run along Main Street, 3-miles.

In Memory...  Rest in Peace Tippi (August 2000 - October 17, 2016)

Four years ago today we said goodbye to Tippi.  She was a rescue we were blessed with for well over 16-years. She was my trail partner for somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 miles (we didn't keep track), traveling together in the car all over Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Western Massachusetts to run in the woods we both loved so much.  Together we finished 17 marathons.  She could run all day, season didn't really matter.

Often, as DL and I drive home from Adams back to Connecticut, she will ask as we pass large forested areas "... did you and Tippi ever run through there?"  The answer is almost always "Yes".  We connected huge tracts of land in northwestern Massachusetts, the Valley, and much of north-central and western Connecticut.

I continue to think about Tippi everyday. Often on a hike or run, I come to a spot in the forest that helps me feel her presence.  The recent photograph below is one of those spots/times, along the Spruce Mountain Trail in Monroe, where my old dog's spirit overwhelmed me.

We love you Tips, rest easy girl.

Tippi, August 2000 - October 17th, 2016.

Music 2020...

Effort #42,  "Spirit in the Sky"...  Rev King solo with his new equipment.  The Road Warriors for Christ with a bit more fury than usual.

Early morning run along Main Street and Kent, 3.5-miles.

Early morning run along Main Street, 3-miles.

Old News...

On this day in 1995 I completed the 2nd Hartford Marathon in 3:42:02.  

This was my 7th completed marathon.

Old Marathon News...

Conway Covered Bridge Marathon - October 13th, 2012

Conway & Goshen, Massachusetts

On this day in 2012, Wuzzam and I ran the Conway Covered Bridge Marathon.  We had Ned and his daughter's dog with us for the first 10-miles or so, and they were good company.

The idea for the run had been with me for a while, but what sealed it was Farmer Tom was doing a group trail ride through the woods from either Berkshire East or South Face, to the Covered Bridge in Conway.

We would start running in the opposite direction of the bikes, beginning at the St. Mark's Church parking area (we hoped to start running on an hour but we found out the church bells haven't been active for many years).  We immediately crossed the Burkeville Covered Bridge and we were soon into Conway State Forest.

Highlights of the run included:

• Cricket Hill
• Joe Herrick Gulf
• Smith Hill
• Bullitt Reservation
• Chapel Falls & Ledge/Pony Cliffs
• Moore Hill and the Firetower

We finished really strong, final time of 6:33:15.  This was my 50th completed marathon.

On the drive out to retrieve our two aid station drops, we ran into the mountain bike group crossing West Road exiting the DAR State Forest onto the Chapel Falls Trail toward Conway State Forest.

An excellent day!

Today is Indigenous Peoples' Day!

I visited the "Old" High School track again (last time September 18th) and ran four Yasso 800's.  

I completed each 800 as follows:

• 3:52
• 3:42
• 3:45
• 3:48

I felt like it was a bit "easier" than the prior time.  I hope to gain some consistency with these, maybe every seven to ten days if I can get a bit lucky.  Completed my work with 3.5-miles.

I was awoken at 12:43 a.m. to respond to an emergency call from work, which thankfully turned out to be nothing of significance.  But, it was well beyond 2:00 a.m. before I was able to get back to sleep, and any plans I had for Sunday were going to be changed.

Once I did manage to get up, I took a 6.1-mile run on the Metacomet here in West Suffield.  Just didn't have it today, I was slow and sluggish.

In the afternoon, DL and I took a nice 70-mile drive to view the changing foliage, to Winsted and then Route 8 to New Boston, before heading home on Route 57.  Nice drive, and an enjoyable afternoon.